Radio waves: Squabble over Issue 2 ads

Friday

Oct 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2009 at 5:35 PM

Radio ads opposing State Issue 2 were pulled off the air briefly this week because of a complaint by supporters of the farm livestock constitutional amendment. Modified ads are now back on the air statewide.

Radio ads opposing State Issue 2 were pulled off the air briefly this week because of a complaint by supporters of the farm livestock constitutional amendment. Modified ads are now back on the air statewide.

Food & Water Watch, a Washington,D.C.-based group that is part of an Ohio anti-Issue 2 coalition, placed $55,000 in radio ads statewide through Clear Channel Communications.

Among other things, the ad claimed that passage of Issue 2 could result in spreading disease, such as the H1N1 virus and the e coli bacteria.

Hinda Mitchell, spokeswoman for Ohioans for Livestock Care, the pro-Issue 2 group, said campaign officials and farmers were "very concerned about the misinformation in the ads." The campaign called Clear Channel officials who called Cliff Schecter, of Libertas LLC, the company that helped create and placed the ads.

Schecter told The Daily Briefing that the campaign agreed to remove the H1N1 references, even though there is abundant evidence to support the claim, because "we don't want to be party to a panic" regarding the current flu epidemic.

Schecter said the big agri-business interests who are backing and bankrolling Issue 2 want to stifle all opposition. He said their response to the ads is "a metaphor for how this board would handle things - no debate, no transparency. Big business makes the decision and that's it."

Issue 2 opponents reported no money collected or spent by the Oct. 14 cutoff date set by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Since then, however, opponents have raised and will spend about $200,000, Schecter said.

Issue 2 supporters raised and will spend in excess of $4 million, a big chunk of it from out-of-state interests.